Anthony Joshua has backed his promoter Eddie Hearn, after Tyson Fury launched an X-rated rant at the Matchroom boss.
Hearn is trying to finalise details for the £200m bout that will crown the first unified heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis.
But the Gypsy King has been growing increasingly frustrated in recent weeks, with talks between Top Rank’s Bob Arum and Hearn stretching out.
Fury also took the opportunity to take aim at Hearn for his treatment of Billy Joe Saunders in the build-up to his bout with pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez.
Hearn represents Saunders, but during a training session with his fellow Brit, Fury claimed the promoter was prioritising Canelo in the build-up, labelling him an “absolute w*****”.
“I think Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn are absolute w******,” Fury said on social media.
“They’re up Canelo Alvarez’s ringpiece a million miles. Look on the f****** webpage. All Canelo, Canelo,” Fury said.
“Do you promote Billy Joe or not you little w**** p****?
“Frank Warren is worth 10 of you, Eddie, you little sausage. He knows how to promote fighters, that’s why he’s a Hall of Fame promoter.”
On Thursday, AJ himself took to social media, praising Hearn, who has represented the 2012 Olympic Champion since he turned pro in the following year.
“Matchroom Boxing, best promotional company in the world,” he wrote on his personal Instagram.
Eddie Hearn, thank you for all your efforts over the years! Best promoter in the world! Hands down (he said he’d give me £20 for this).
“Jokes aside, he’s doing a lot for boxing and boxers, 100%.”
The super-fight between Joshua and Fury was thrown into doubt earlier this week when Arum suggested they could walk away from talks and look to secure a trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder.
However, Hearn has claimed a deal is close, with the final discussions over venue still to be concluded.
“It’s definitely taking a little bit longer than we anticipated, both guys have accepted the deal that’s come in from the Middle East, we’re papering that deal," he told talkSPORT.
“It’s not as easy as just a 24-hour turnaround of a long-form agreement for a fight of this magnitude.”
Hearn did get his own jibe in at Fury, suggesting that in comparison to his fighter, he isn’t taking the preparation seriously.
He added: " Tyson Fury ’s getting right up my nostrils as well.
“He’s a great fighter and he’s a great talker as well. I just think when I look at those two together – you’ve got one guy working behind closed doors in Finchley with a dream to become undisputed champion.
“And then you’ve got another bloke who’s swanning around in a suite at the encore in Las Vegas, wearing terrible Versace shirts, screaming on social media all day calling everyone a dosser.
“To be fair, I was with Tyson about ten days ago in Vegas. He wants the fight, we all want the fight, I think everyone’s just getting a bit frustrated that it’s taking probably two or three weeks longer than we expected."
